


some things are simple

by loosingletters



Series: light [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Desert Children and their continued fascination with plants, Gen, Homesickness, Hurt/Comfort, Slavery, Tusken Culture, Tusken Raiders (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:21:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25453042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: While Ki-Adi-Mundi is talking to the Council, A’Sharad Hett searches for little Anakin Skywalker to tell him about his mother’s newfound freedom.
Relationships: A'Sharad Hett & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: light [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739998
Comments: 28
Kudos: 979





	some things are simple

**Author's Note:**

> Me, shortly after midnight: Sequel to there's a place!

A’Sharad had three impressions of his new homeworld.

One: Coruscant was a loud and full planet. People were everywhere, it felt like ants crawling all over A’Sharad’s skin, except they were all inside his mind.

Two: Coruscant was a cold planet. Even the insides of the Jedi temple weren’t particularly warm, though the building itself was very welcoming. It was bright and reminded A’Sharad of the many hours his clan had spent around the low campfires.

Three: The lack of sand was as confusing as it was enjoyable. Wearing his mask seemed redundant here where he didn’t need it, but even if he was going to be a Jedi, he was still a Tusken. A’Sharad didn’t know much about other species, but given how all the Jedi he had met so far were inherently Jedi, but also still carrying parts of their heritage, he concluded that it wouldn’t be strange for him to keep wearing his mask.

The Jedi in the halls of the temple all watched him in curiosity, but none of them dared to approach him. Their behavior seemed careless, A’Sharad thought. An enemy could enter their home at any time. A’Sharad could be a threat and they just let him walk through their, well, _his_ now too, home without reassuring themselves that he was allowed to be here.

Or perhaps they did, somehow, know he was meant to be here. A’Sharad had already noticed on his way to Coruscant that there was much he had to learn if he wanted to become an accomplished Jedi. His education certainly hadn’t been on par with that of the children who had grown up here. It was one of the reasons his new Master was talking to the Council while A’Sharad was strolling through the temple. It wasn’t custom to join the Order so late, they had to figure out how to teach him the best way. The conversation would only bore A’Sharad, or insult him maybe, so Master Mundi had allowed him to explore the temple. A’Sharad was keen to do so, but first he had another mission to fulfill. Somewhere here in this temple lived Anakin Skywalker and A’Sharad was duty-bound to inform him of his mother’s freedom. He had already gotten his apartment number from the temple’s register. All he really needed to do now was talk to him.

After what felt like hours of walking through the complex, A’Sharad arrived in front of a door with a wooden sign. _Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker_ it read in neat handwriting and right beneath it was a symbol of two circles, almost overlapping, one of them painted in orange and the other in a dark red.

Anakin must have put it there, yet another sign that being a Jedi didn’t mean erasing your past. A’Sharad rang the doorbell and waited patiently until the door opened. The person standing in front of A’Sharad was a young man with light hair. He looked a little tired and stared at A’Sharad with slight confusion. Through the open door, A’Sharad could spot a child sitting on a sofa, a datapad abandoned in his lap as he studied A’Sharad with interest. If the child was Anakin Skywalker, the young man must be Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“Hello,” Kenobi said. “Can I help you?”

“My name is A’Sharad Hett,” he introduced himself. “I am Ki-Adi-Mundi’s new Padawan, we have just arrived from Tatooine.”

“Tatooine?” Anakin echoed. His eyes widened and he appeared to be unable to decide whether he should look at Kenobi or A’Sharad.

Kenobi too visibly straightened and stepped aside. “Please, come in.”

A’Sharad lowered his head in thanks and stepped inside the apartment. Like the rest of the temple, this place felt like home. It wasn’t as lived in as the building, but according to Shmi’s story her son also hadn’t been with the Jedi for long yet. A’Sharad’s family had moved through the desert, their nomadic nature had never tied him to a place. Home had been his father’s laugh, the children running around the banthas, the tents they put up and the night sky above, but A’Sharad thought he might be able to get used to staying in one place like this.

Kenobi and Anakin’s home, new as it was, showed signs of care and love. Particularly the plants that seemed to spread out in the entire apartment. A’Sharad had never seen so many at once, not even in the mountains during spring when all the flowers bloomed. If he hadn't walked through one of the gardens on his way through the temple, he would think that he was hallucinating.

“You’re a Tusken,” Anakin said, his voice left no room for arguing. “I didn’t know Tuskens could become Jedi.”

“I am Tusken and I am of the Force,” A’Sharad replied. “And my clan has- _had_ no quarrel with yours. We are all slaves to the Hutts and the _Tuyiskt sisktn_ thieves.”

“What thieves?”

A’Sharad frowned. The term didn’t translate well, not he had ever needed to translate it. He knew one of the southern clans had tried to make the invaders understand many decades ago, but all it had earned them was death.

“Hunting grounds,” he finally said. “They are sacred to us.”

And A’Sharad would never see them again. With his clan gone, there would be even less to protect them. Silently he wondered how long it would take until they had disappeared completely, but he quickly shook off the thought again. The home of another was no place for his own grief.

“I am here on behalf of Shmi Skywalker,” A’Sharad continued. “We have freed her and she has a message for you.”

The datapad Anakin had been holding on dropped to the floor. “What?”

“Master Mundi followed through on my request then?” Kenobi asked right after.

A’Sharad nodded and the next moment, Kenobi dropped to the sofa with a sigh of relief.

“What request?” Anakin asked sharply, turning to his Master.

“I knew of Master Mundi’s mission to Tatooine,” Kenobi explained. “I asked him to see if he could free your mother. I gave him-“

Before Kenobi could finish, Anakin threw himself at his Master. He wrapped his arms around Kenobi’s neck and buried his face in his tunics. Kenobi was quick to return the hug and held onto his student as Anakin’s shoulders trembled.

A’Sharad watched in silence until Anakin calmed down again. Only then did he let go of Kenobi and, in stunning similarity to his mother, traced over Kenobi’s cheek. Kenobi didn’t move, he also appeared to have no knowledge as to what the gesture meant, but he let Anakin finish it.

“So my mother- she’s really free?” Anakin asked A’Sharad.

His voice was hoarse as if he had been crying, but his eyes were dry. This wasn’t the desert, there was no water to be saved here, but old habits didn’t vanish easily.

“Yes,” A’Sharad confirmed. He reached for one of the many pockets attached to his belt and fished out a small recording device. “She asked me to give this to you.”

A’Sharad held out his hand. Anakin exchanged a look with Kenobi, then carefully took ahold of the device. He cradled the small black piece as gently as one would hold a newborn. He was obviously utterly transfixed on it.

“Thank you.”

A’Sharad turned to look at Kenobi. “It had to be done, Knight Kenobi.”

“Obi-Wan,” the other Jedi offered. “My name is Obi-Wan and after what you’ve done…”

The two of them glanced at Anakin, who was curled up in one corner of the sofa, still staring at the device. There was a rightness to the scene, something that told A’Sharad that this was how it was meant to be.

“Thank you, Padawan Hett.”

It was nothing that needed thanks. The Force was shifting as kindly as the sands in the featherlight pools deep in the desert did. They had always been A’Sharad’s favorite places to visit as a child, the touch of the sand for once kind.

“You may call me A’Sharad in turn,” A’Sharad replied. “And I’m glad I could help you.”

It felt good to be surrounded by happiness once more.

**Author's Note:**

> If I singlehandedly have to write about the Tuskens in a way that shows that they had a rich culture, I will do it.  
> Anyway, here's to a traumatized homesick 15-year-old befriending the differently traumatized and homesick 10-year-old.  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
